


The Beginning

by Magical_Persona



Series: How Ellis [1]
Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: A little pain, Fluff, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Nellis, but i tried not to make it too painful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:52:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9002443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Persona/pseuds/Magical_Persona
Summary: Mostly fluff and the series of events leading up to Ellis telling Nick about his feelings.





	

Somehow the four of them were still alive. Nick like to gamble as much as the next man and he wouldn’t have risked a nickel on the making it this far. So much for CEDA, but anyone who can claim to protect people from zombies is bound to be shady. He had a sneaking suspicion CEDA probably had a share in what had started this mess in the first place.

At the moment, they were making their way through a fairly empty city. They hadn’t run into many of the infected. Just a few screamers wandering around.

“This reminds me of the one time my buddy Keith and I went to that Christmas parade. Ya know, the real big, fancy one in New York? Well, Keith didn’t want to go to the parade so we went ‘round the whole city lookin’ for somethin’ to do. Well, we didn’t find nothin’ so Keith got this idea to climb on a building and try to jump on a float.”

“Ellis, if you don’t shut up I might just send a bullet through your head,” Nick’s gravelly voice sounded more than done.  
They had been walking too long for anyone’s liking, but more so for Nick. They hadn’t found a first aid kit in who knows how long and the wound in his leg wasn’t helping matters. He was limping along behind their ragtag group.

Rochelle was leading the way with Ellis constantly looking back at Nick and Coach between them. Leave it to the hick to be the caring one. Nick just manage to stop himself from making a growling noise, more in frustration than anything else. It was his fault he had gotten hurt. He had gotten distracted, but at least they’d gotten more painkillers and food. It was a shame they hadn’t managed to find anything to add to their first aid kits.

“There’s a safe house up here!” Rochelle called back to them.

Nick had a snappy retort on the tip of his tongue, but just as he was about to voice it his leg wobbled causing him to hiss. He looked up quickly, hoping no one had heard him. 

The last thing he needed was them worrying over him. They just had to get to a place where he could patch himself up.

A few more gun shots and near falls later the four of them had barricaded themselves into the small house. It was a small two story place with three bedrooms. Which meant he and Ellis would be sharing a room. He was getting tired of it. He was really hoping to come to a house with four rooms. Was one more room too much to ask for?

Nick made his way around to the bathrooms looking for anything he could use to patch himself up. Thankfully, he managed to find some gauze and rubbing alcohol. It wasn’t much, but he’d take what he could get.

What he wasn’t expecting was that hick walking in while he was wrapping his leg.

“Ellis, do you even know how to knock?” Nick snapped.

“Jus’ wanted to see how you was doin’.” Ellis replied. “Yer leg ain’t lookin’ too good. You need me to patch it up for ya?”

“Beat it, Kid,” Nick purposely added more venom to his voice than he needed. “I can take care of myself.”

Ellis didn’t leave. He stood, head cocked to the side, like a puppy. 

“Goddamnit, Ellis,” Nick hissed. Though the hiss wasn’t completely directed at Ellis. Nick hadn’t been paying complete attention to what he was doing and pulled the bandage a little too tight.

“See, you ain’t even payin’ attention,” Ellis said taking a step closer.

“Overalls, I don’t need you,” Nick growled, standing up. He pushed past the boy as he choked down some of the pain killers he’d found earlier.

“Nick, ya don’t always gotta pretend you ain’t hurt,” Ellis said as Nick left.

Ellis knew Nick had a habit of taking care of himself. Rochelle and himself tended to look out for everyone when it came patching up wounds. Even Coach tried to help, though he wasn’t the best at it. Nick was a different breed of person, Ellis knew that, but no matter what Nick seemed to think, he wasn’t stupid.

Nick didn’t let people get close, but sometimes he would let the façade slip. It wasn’t often and it only ever happened when Nick was sure he was alone, but Ellis had seen it twice. Nick wasn’t always hateful; it was the mask he wore. Ellis had known people like that. Back before all this mess. They weren’t always the bad people they made themselves out to be.

The youngest male mad his way down stairs to help Coach dig through the cabinets for anything they could use. They’d hole up here for a while, at least until Nick could walk properly, but it never hurt to clear the cupboards.

“This reminds me of the one time Keith thought it’d be a good idea to sneak out and camp in the woods for a few months,” Ellis said cheerily recalling the memory. “The only problem was at the time we weren’t old enough to have jobs so I’d let him in and we’d go through the cabinets to see what he could take with ‘im. Couldn’t get ‘im much though. One time he managed to swipe some lunch meat from someone and that night he got attacked by a bear. Not that bear actually hurt him or nothin’. See Keith could easily take on one a them.”

“Uh-huh,” Coach replied. He hadn’t been listening.

Ellis didn’t mind. As long as he got to talk without being interrupted he would count it as listening. It was rare for him to be able to even get through a story without someone interrupting him. He’d take what he could get.

 

A few days later and they were on the move again. Ellis was still trying to figure out how to befriend Nick. Though the older man’s retorts seemed to be filled with less and less malice the more time they spent together. Ellis took that to mean that it was just going to take some time for Nick to open up.

The four of them moved along the roads shaded only by the occasional pile of cars. There were fewer zombies along the highway, but that didn’t mean they had nothing to fear.

Ellis was leading when he stopped suddenly, throwing his free hand out to stop Nick from walking forward.

That was when he heard it. The low careening of someone making a sound between a cry and a moan. A witch. Not for the first time, Nick was slightly thankful for the kid’s ears.

“Witch up ahead,” Nick called quietly to the two behind them. “Looks like she’s sitting in the middle of the road.”

“We’ll split up and go around,” Coach said gesturing for Rochelle to follow him.

Nick sighed. He wished they’d stop putting him with the loud mouth. If anyone was going to attract her attention it would be Ellis. Figures no one would want him on their side when they went passed her.

“You attract her attention and I will kill you myself,” Nick growled as he moved slowly to the edges of the road.

No matter how far away they were Nick felt they were too close. The last thing they needed right now was for that thing to come after them. It would be a nightmare. He was only the slightest bit surprised when Ellis grabbed hold of his sleeve. A quick glance told him Ellis was completely focused on the witch so Nick resisted the urge to shake the younger man’s hand free.

Once they were out of that particular harm’s way the two ran to catch up with their other companions.

“Thank you, Ellis, for not fucking up,” Nick said in his condescending way.

“I don’t know if that was a complement or an insult,” Ellis said more to himself than anyone in particular.

“Ignore him,” Rochelle told the hick. “He’s just trying to get under your skin.”

Ellis, rather than ignore Nick, decided to walk beside them as they moved through the highway. They’d have to go off at the next exit and then there would probably be more zombies to deal with, but for now they could walk side-by-side.

“Hey, Nick,” Ellis said with a conversational tone Nick didn’t like.

“How can you help me, Ellis?” Nick asked, hoping it would throw the kid off just enough to get him to shut up.

“How come you don’t talk about your past?” Ellis asked. “I know what Coach and Rochelle did before the apocalypse, but what about you?”

Nick grumbled. Of course, the kid would have just ignored him. “Why does it matter? Whatever life we had before is gone. We can’t just go back.”

“Not even after?” Ellis asked.

“After? You think there’s something after this?” Nick asked incredulously. “Sorry to burst your bubble, Kid. This is the zombie apocalypse. There is no after. We’re all going to die here.”

“If you think that why are you still fighting?” Ellis asked with all the innocence of a child. “You have to believe in something.”

“I believe that if I’m dying in this shit hole I’m taking as many of them with me as I can,” Nick replied.  
Some days he was amazed at the sheer level of innocence Ellis could project. Even more often than that he wondered how much of it was actually real and how much of it was Ellis putting on a show to save his sanity. Nick shook his head, now was not the time to be worrying about the kid’s sanity. Chances were Ellis was better off than everyone else.

 

Turns out Nick had the chance that night to test that out for himself. He and Ellis were sharing a room yet again, though at least this time Coach and Rochelle had to share as well. Honestly, at this point he wouldn’t have minded sharing a room with Rochelle, but she was completely against the idea.  
He didn’t know how she could be. He was a good-looking guy and it’s not like she had many choices when it came to repopulating the Earth.

That aside he was sharing a room with the hillbilly and it was going to be a painful evening. He could already feel it. They had found a house with a generator, which meant running water. Unfortunately, Ellis had made it to the bathroom first and claimed the shower for himself. It also meant that it was Nick’s job to find clothes that might fit them. He’d found a few things that would probably fit Ellis and himself. He’d even managed to find something that could possibly fit Ro, but Coach was a bit harder to look for. Besides it was just until they could attempt to get the washer working. The only problem was they hadn’t found a lot of food, still, the generator more than made up for it.

Ellis walked into the room, hair dripping and shivering. Just because they had a generator didn’t meant they had hot water. That much they had expected, but what caught Nick off guard was the towel wrapped around Ellis’ hips.

It figures the hillbilly had no respect for the person he’d be sharing the room with. Nick threw the clothes at the younger man.

“Get dressed,” Nick commanded before leaving the room, but not before his mind started wandering.  
Part of him, a very small part, wanted to know what it would be like to pin the younger man—no. Nick shook his head. That was the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now. It was the goddamn apocalypse. Actually, maybe that’s why he was like this.

He usually didn’t lean toward men for one night stands, the average run of the mill prostitute was cheaper and got the job done. This, however, was the apocalypse and Rochelle sure as hell wasn’t getting into bed with anyone.

By the time it was dark the four of them had showered and their clothes had been hung out to dry in the living room. For the most part Nick felt better, but there was a nagging tension he could just barely sense. It wasn’t man made tension from their little group. He was more often than not the cause of that, so he’d be able to pick that up more easily.

When he looked at the darkening sky he finally realized it wasn’t just the setting sun that was making it dark. There was bound to be a storm some time in the night. He was thankful for it. Maybe it would wash away from of the blood and guts that littered the streets. If they got really lucky it would do that and cool everything down rather than adding to the humidity.

He left the other three down stairs to do whatever their nightly ritual was. He was pretty sure they told stories about life before all of this, but Nick couldn’t care less. His goal was to get to sleep before Ellis came stomping into the room and woke him up.  
Nick had always been a light sleeper, a habit he picked up a long time ago. He knew Ellis was going to wake him up when he walked into the room, there was no avoiding it, but he also knew he would be able to go back to sleep within a few minutes. What he hadn’t expected was to be woken up in the middle of the night to something…whimpering?

He lay perfectly still in his bed. If something were looking at him it wouldn’t have even known he had woken, but his ears strained to hear what had woken him. It had been a matter of life and death before and could easily be again. After a boom of thunder that was close enough to shake the entire house he heard it again. It was coming from the corner of the room where Ellis should have been sleeping.

Nick sat up and looked toward the bed the boy had made out of comforters. Ellis had tucked himself into the corner and was huddled, shivering in a blanket. Once again the thunder shook the house, but this time Ellis made a sound more attributed to a pained animal.

“Ellis,” Nick tried keeping his voice quiet. He doubted yelling at the young man would be anyway to calm him. “Ellis, you awake over there?”

After a few more seconds of silence, Ellis responded. “Yeah.”

“What’s the problem, Kid?” Nick asked. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of storms.”

Once again Ellis was silent for the longest time. Maybe he had been debating on lying or maybe he had simply planned to stay silent until Nick lost interest. Either way, those plans were foiled by another large crack of thunder. This one was close and loud enough to set Nick on edge. Ellis, on the other hand, pulled his head away from where it had been hidden in his knees and looked around with wide terrified eyes.

Nick took his blanket and joined Ellis on the floor, wrapping the blanket around the two of them.

“Ellis, it’s just thunder,” Nick tried to keep his voice soft. He’d never been too good at things like this.

Ellis nodded, but his shoulders shook, even as Nick pulled him closer. The younger man curled against the elder man’s side.

“I didn’t used ta be scared,” Ellis said, his voice barely audible over the howling wind and pelting rain on the other side of the wall. “But after the bombing. They were nearly on top a us, Nick. I know it’s thunder, but I can’t stop rememberin’ the buildings blowin’ to pieces around us. I know it ain’t coming in here, but what if one a those ain’t? What if they’re still bombing?”

“They’re not bombing all the way out here,” Nick assured him. “They have no way of knowing anyone made it out, so there’s no way they’d waste supplies coming out here.”

Ellis nodded. He believed Nick. While the conman had a lot to learn about true human interaction he could put on a convincing face. Nick had no way of knowing whether or not a bomb was hidden in those clouds, but he highly doubted it. As long as he could get the boy to stop shaking he’d consider his job done.

Ellis fell asleep with Nick’s arm around his shoulder and his head pressed in the crook of Nick’s neck. For once Nick didn’t mind the close contact. Oddly enough, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep. He’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone curled against him.

The younger boy woke first, which was unusual between them. He blinked his eyes groggily before noticing the arm around his shoulder and the body pressed against him. Part of him was surprised to see Nick, peacefully asleep.

It wasn’t usual for Ellis to get a look at Nick’s face when he wasn’t glaring, but while sleeping Nick looked the most relaxed Ellis had even seen him. The frown Nick usually wore was gone, replaced by a softer look. It wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t a frown either. For once Nick looked calm and almost complacent.

Ellis felt something strange, almost like a fluttering, in his stomach. He knew what it was, but he pushed it down. This was Nick. Nick the man who showed two emotions: anger and frustration.

After a few minutes, Ellis poked Nick’s cheek causing the older man to start.

“What the Hell, Ellis,” Nick hissed, pulling away from the younger man.

“Jus’ figured you’d rather me wake ya than Ro or Coach,” Ellis replied standing up and stretching.

Nick was grumbling something about preferring not to be woken up at all when Ellis turned to him.

“Hey, Nick, ‘bout last night, thank ya,” the young man said before looking for his normal clothes.

“The only reason I did it was so I could get some sleep. There was no way in Hell I would be able to do that with you jumping at every little noise,” Nick grumbled before making his way downstairs.

Ellis smiled down at the floor. Nick cared. He may have shown it in a different way than most people, but as long as he cared that’s all that mattered.

He changed into his normal clothes quickly and headed down. It was strange what having a certain outfit on could do. Once he was back to his daily wear Ellis felt much more content, almost ready.

He smiled at the humor of that. He was almost ready to go out and face the apocalypse head on.

A few minutes later the four of them had packed up the essentials and were moving on.

Ellis was walking beside Nick, but it was putting the older man on edge. Ellis wasn’t speaking, just walking. The hillbilly was never this quiet, but Nick was going to enjoy this while it lasted, even if it did cause him to be a bit more on edge than usual.

Coach and Ro were talking amongst themselves, fairly quietly. It bothered Nick that he couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, only a few words here and there, until Rochelle turned to look at him.

She motioned him forward and Nick jogged up to her, his gun at the ready. Turns out there was nothing to shoot. He was just being scolded.

“What did you do to him?” Rochelle asked, gesturing to Ellis who was now talking to Coach.

“What makes me the suspect?” Nick growled. So, Ellis was spacing out, it’s not like it was his fault the kid had a short attention span. That didn’t seem even close to a fair accusation.

“The two of you shared a room,” Rochelle pointed out. “Plus, he’s wearing you down.”

Nick glared at her, causing her to laugh.

“You don’t believe me, but you aren’t nearly as annoying as you used to be,” Rochelle stated.

 

The days went by as they usually did. Killing most zombies, they came in contact with, but trying and failing to avoid witches. This particular time it was Ellis who had gotten himself hurt. The boy was leaning against the wall, clutching his chest. The witch had gotten him pretty good with her long claws.  
Ro and Coach were off scouring the safe house and Ellis had fallen from leaning against the wall to sitting. His breathing was too shallow and his face was filled with pain.

“Kid,” Nick said kneeling beside him. “Let me take a look at that.”

Ellis nodded. The wound was deep, to the point of being able to see some bone.

Nick pulled out a first aid kit and began patching him up. The boy winced, reaching up to grab Nick’s wrist.

“Nick,” the poor kid choked out.

“I know,” Nick said gently. “But I need to clean it out. You don’t want it to get infected.”

Ellis’ blue eyes looked into Nick’s grey ones. Nick knew this was the first-time Ellis had sustained and injury like this. He wasn’t without his scars of course, but he didn’t think any of those had been from wounds this deep.

Nick gently pushed Ellis’ hat back so the boy’s face wasn’t covered in shadows. “I’ll try not to hurt you, but I’m not promising anything.”

Ellis gave him a weak smile. “M’kay.”

True to his word Nick did try not to hurt him. He couldn’t help that Ellis tensed very now and again, but once he had finished he was satisfied with his work.

“Thanks, Nick,” Ellis said quietly.

“Don’t mention this to anyone,” Nick muttered. “Don’t move around too much.”

With that Nick turned and went to see what Coach and Rochelle had found. He also went around to see if they had missed anything.

Ellis watched him walk away with a tired smile on his face. Pain was exhausting. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Nick had told him not to move, so getting some sleep couldn’t hurt.

Ellis woke to a loud bang, cursing that he knew was Nick’s and then the searing pain.

“Nice going, Nick,” Rochelle muttered under her breath. “You woke him up.”

Nick’s shoes, Ellis knew that’s who they belonged to even without opening his eyes. Nick was the only one who had shoes that sounded like a woman’s.

“Nick?” Ellis asked, cracking his eyes open. He moved, only to be able to look up at Nick, but he hissed at the pain it caused.

“Here,” Nick said shoving a bottle of pain pills in Ellis’ hand.

Ellis did his best to open the bottle and take the pills without hurting himself more.

“What fell?” Ellis asked as he handed the bottle back.

“Just some pans,” Nick replied.

“Why?” Ellis asked.

“Coach insists there’s enough food here for him to make something,” Nick explained taking a seat beside Ellis. “Next time,” Nick said quietly. “Don’t jump in front of a witch.”

“But she was after ya,” Ellis said quietly. “Better me then you.”

Nick gave Ellis a side long glance before shaking his head. It was Ellis, that was precise reason this was a problem. Nick wouldn’t have minded so much if it had been him, but Ellis didn’t deserve this. The kid was too kind, too caring. He shouldn’t have had to go through an apocalypse.

“Nick,” Ellis’ voice interrupted the older man’s thoughts. “Do ya really care about me that much?”

There it was. Nick had two options. He saw them both. He could tell the truth. He could tell Ellis that he did. He cared too much about what happened to Ellis. Still, he knew better.  
Nick knew people didn’t stay with him, this wasn’t news.

“If we’re down a team mate we’re all dead,” Nick replied. That seemed to be the safer of the two options. Did he like Ellis? Probably, about as much as he had liked his ex-wife before they married. Though, in Ellis’ defense, the hick hadn’t hit anywhere near that level of crazy.

“Well, you don’t gotta say anythin’ if ya don’t wanna,” Ellis said gently. “But I think I like ya, Nick. Don’ wanna say its love, ‘cause that’s real strong an’ all, but I think it might turn inta that.”

Nick shook his head, not necessarily in disagreement. He hadn’t expected Ellis to say anything like that. Now it was out, but Ellis looked content. The hick laid his head on Nick’s shoulder.

After a few minutes of sitting like that Nick’s back was starting to hurt.

“Alright, Kid,” Nick said, standing up. “Let’s get you to the kitchen.”

Ellis nodded. The pain pills had kicked in and the pain in his chest had gone from searing to dull thudding. As Nick helped him to the kitchen the pain flared, but it dulled down when he sat again.

Coach watched the two of them walk in, then sent Rochelle a look. Nick noticed it, but he wasn’t sure whether Ellis had seen it. The look made Nick think he might be having a short conversation with Coach later. That was going to be interesting, considering Nick probably had the most respect for Coach than anyone else in their small band of survivors.

Just as he thought, as Coach was putting things away from dinner he asked Nick to help in a tone that broke no arguments. As much as Nick hated being told what to do there was a limit.

“I heard what Ellis was saying to you,” the man said.

Nick shrugged. “The Kid’s just confused. Probably because he hasn’t been laid in a while and doesn’t know what to think.”

“You and I both know Ellis better than that,” Coach’s voice was almost bitter and Nick realized he was very close to crossing a line he might not be tolerated for crossing.

“Is there a point to this conversation?” Nick asked.

“Don’t hurt that boy,” Coach’s voice was close to dangerous.

“If he keeps jumping in front of witches I’m not the one you have to worry about,” Nick pointed out before leaving. He was done with this conversation.

When he got to the top of the stairs he was met by Rochelle. He glared at her, probably a bit too harshly considering his bad mood wasn’t her fault.

“Are you going to tell me not to hurt him too?” His voice was just barely above a growl.

“No,” Rochelle replied, surprisingly calmly. “I know you won’t do that. As much as you pretend not to, you care about him. You wouldn’t hurt him. I was going to tell you he’s asleep so you might want to be quiet.”

Nick nodded before entering their room. He looked at the bed to see the sleeping form of Ellis in the bed. Nick looked around for something he could use as a makeshift bed. He’d normally kick Ellis out of bed, but considering his condition Nick was willing to sacrifice the bed.  
Nick was about to lay down when Ellis groaned. Nick actually winced at the sound. It had been filled with so much pain he could feel it. Nick went to Ellis’ side, gently placing his hand on the other man’s shoulder. Ellis’ blue eyes flew open, filled with fear, but upon seeing Nick he calmed down.

“Do you want pills?” Nick asked.

“Please,” Ellis’ voice cracked.

Nick left Ellis in the room and in those few seconds he was alone he felt odd. It hurt. That was what took up most of his thoughts. It hurt more than the one time he’d gotten kicked by a horse. Even more than the one time Keith and him had flipped the tractor and it landed on them. That was when they had to wait for someone to come get them. They would have been crushed if it hadn’t been for the little ditch that had been there.

“Ellis?” Nick asked, reaching for the young man. “Would you like help sitting up?”

Ellis shook his head, forcing himself up. He then took the pills and set the bottle on the table beside the bed. He felt like Nick was about to leave, so he reached out and grabbed the other’s wrist.

“Where are you sleeping?” Ellis asked.

Nick gestured to his spot on the floor, but Ellis was already shaking his head.

“The bed’s big enough,” He pointed out. Then for added measure. “I’m in pain, Nick. You wouldn’t want a zombie to come up ‘ere and get me while you cain’t protect me.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t let the zombie take you?” Nick asked, but he was already climbing into bed.

Ellis smiled into Nick’s shoulder, leaning his head against Nick’s shoulder. Nick moved himself closer to Ellis as the younger reached for his hand. Nick could only chuckle at the movement.

“Are you a child?” Nick asked.

“You ain’t pulled away,” Ellis pointed out.  
“Good night, Ellis,” Nick said doing his best to stop his smile from showing in his voice.


End file.
